How long is the contract? What are the terms? Is there an early exit clause? what is it? Having a bill in the $500 range for heat a month seems rather high. Especially if you are able to heat the home with a couple space heaters. It can’t be a large home.
It’s a 5 year contract, so that’s coming due sometime soon. The house has 1900 sq. ft. excluding the basement and attached garage. It just seems like maybe the house is poorly insulated. I even thought about filling the walls and attic with that spray in foam insulation at one point, but that costs something in the range of $15k.
The best thing is to just move the family to a better state with a more moderate climate, but that takes time.